Desperate to please his wife, Jack Halsey takes his dysfunctional family on a Kenyan safari, the holiday of a lifetime, but things soon go awry in M.J. Bassett’s Africa-set redemption story.
The unpleasant Americans barely have time to grab a themed cocktail before oil executive Jack’s secret is out; wife Lauren discovers he’s been placed on administrative leave following a major incident. Wanting to recover his family’s faith, Jack speeds through the park checkpoint and sets off down a track past a ‘No Entry’ sign that, for dramatic effect, may well have written in blood. One encounter with a maternally protective rhinoceros later the van is on its side, Jack’s leg is gored, diabetic Lauren’s insulin supplies are gone, and the family are in a battle for survival.
Endangered Species is a confused film. All the elements for a man vs nature thriller are here: the sultry, spectacular vistas, a family in need of redemption, dangerous fauna and an environmental message that is worthy and important.
But nothing really fits together. Even the political message, which should have been an easy win, feels forced and at times undermined by the film’s own script; a disagreement over taking eco-friendly glass bottles instead of unbreakable plastic results in the family being without water when the latter would potentially have saved their lives.
The final act takes a somewhat predictable twist, asking the audience to ponder on who are really the bad guys of the piece, but it all feels a little like the filmmakers wanted to include every idea they had in development when less would certainly have been more.
And the CGI animals are bad, really bad.
